Open this comic and you are thrown in to the middle of galactic ACTION! Hulk is trying to rip apart a space ship, piloted by the RHINO. The Rhino seems to have no clue as to what's going on. He does not! Hulk's nemesis, THE LEADER has been paralyzed in a confrontation with the Hulk and has since transferred his mind inside of the Rhino's. The Leader reversed the effect and the Rhino "wakes" to find himself in a cockpit, about to get his butt kicked.

Notice how the Counter-Earth text is just like the bottom of Hulk #158?

As the Hulk and Rhino duke it out, it seems futile. The ship is damaged and there is no likely way for them to return to Earth. This is great news for the Leader and General "Thunderbolt" Ross. Betty Ross is soon to be married to General Glenn Talbot. She believes that Banner is either forever gone or dead. General Ross has fed her lies causing her to give up on her true love allowing her to find happiness and normalcy with a new man. Hulk and Rhino continue to brawl. Most likely they will be lost in space or burn up in the nearby Sun. Wait! What's this?! Vibrating a "mere micro-second out-of-synch" is another world unknown to us Earthlings. In very many ways it looks the same as our planet but it's inhabitants are much different. This parallel world is called "COUNTER-EARTH"! The battling brutes go in to it's orbit. Before crash landing, Hulk tosses the Rhino overboard, leaving them on two different parts of this strangely familiar planet. There are many witnesses. One of them is "Him" aka Adam Warlock. An editor's note from Roy Thomas tells us to follow Warlock's adventures in his mag as he has no time to deal with the occupants of the falling spacecraft. While all this is going on, another fight is about to take place between Man and New-Man. There are two sects of New-Men about to fight, and a parallel General Ross who wants them both eradicated. One group of New-Men is led by a malicious snake-person named Kohbra and the other by a nicer, spiky guy named Porcunius. The Hulk falling from the ship slams right in between them both causing the battle to wait for another day.

Because everything looks similar, the Hulk thinks he is still on Earth. Elsewhere, the HIGH EVOLUTIONARY watches the sons of WUNDAGORE in dismay. Not only had he hoped his New-Men would never be discovered, it was also his wish that Counter-Earth would not discovered by ... regular Earth. On this planet, Bruce Banner has never become the Hulk and he is happily married to Betty. They even have an annoying kid together. Kohbra and his clan have accepted Rhino to their ranks while Hulk is kicking it with Porcunius. Little do they know, there is a traitor among them named PHROGG. The military found the space ship and begins to repair it. Porcunius informs Hulk that he is in fact not on Earth and decides to help Hulk get the ship back. Kohbra and the Rhino want the ship for their own. Hulk goes to the military base, smashes a wall and loses it when he sees Banner!

Before Hulk can smash this version of Banner, a nuisance arrives on the scene. I guess it's good as no one gets hurt, but whiny 7 yr old Bruce Banner, jr. says, "I won't let you hurt my Daddy!" and begins to punch Hulk in the leg. Hulk begins to realize that this is a very different Banner and maybe he shouldn't crush him. As he ponders this new earth and all it's ... TWHAMM!!! It's the Rhino! He cheap-shotted the Hulk from behind. Kohbra and his cohorts are with him. Porcunius assembles his crew and we are treated to a nice splash page. Oh snap! It's about to go down!!!

Not as nice, but a splash page none the less, shows Banner and his family hiding, while both sides of the New-Men war against each other. Two hundred million miles away, The Leader uses his technology to watch the battle. His computer system is called OMNIVAC and it is highly intelligent. Trying to keep Hulk from ever using the ship, the Leader uses his mind-force to recall it to Earth.

The New-Men continue to fight for their own ideals while Rhino and Hulk trade blows. However, the Hulk is stronger and angrier. He uses this fury to turn the tide against his Gray skinned nemesis.

The next few panels are pretty sweet as Hulk grabs Rhino by his horn and body slams him on the hard floor. The engines whirl as the ship starts to lift off. Quickly Hulk boards the ship. In an act of kindness he grabs Rhino and brings him with. Maybe, deep inside Banner influenced this decision or maybe Hulk was compassionate enough to know that to stay on this planet would be torturous. Either way, the Leader is not happy when Omnivac informs him that both hero and villain have boarded the ship.

Once on the ship, Hulk calms down enough to revert to Banner. Meanwhile, a wedding procession takes place. The creepiest minister I have ever seen weds Betty and Talbot. General Ross is pleased to see his daughter's happiness. As he enjoys this moment he hopes that Bruce truly is dead as his return will cause many problems for many people.----------------------- I never realized how much of a staple Counter-Earth, Wundagore and the High Evolutionary were to 1970's Marvel. Maybe they were not, but I coincidently have recently read a few books with all that stuff in it. ie, Thor, Tigra, Warlock and this issue of Hulk.